


That's What You Get

by kiwigirl



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Darcy Lewis is Tony Stark's Daughter, F/M, Fluff and Crack, Las Vegas, Waking Up in Vegas, drunk and married
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-18
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-02 05:41:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 7,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5236415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiwigirl/pseuds/kiwigirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy Lewis goes to Vegas and makes several terrible alcohol-fuelled decisions. This is what happens.<br/>Mostly MCU compliant (I think) and terribly cracky.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Waking up in Vegas

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [My Mama Would Be So Ashamed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/426262) by [amusewithaview](https://archiveofourown.org/users/amusewithaview/pseuds/amusewithaview). 



Darcy knew she’d made a big mistake before she opened her eyes. Her head was pounding, her mouth tasted disgusting, and last night was a fuzzy blur. Also, the dip in the mattress indicated that whoever she’d picked up last night was still here. _Dammit_. She’d promised herself she would not go sleeping around, wouldn’t repeat her mom’s mistakes. Not that Amelia Lewis did that anymore. At the first little plus on the pregnancy test she’d cleaned up her act, quit her showgirl job, and gotten the hell out of Vegas. Darcy had grown up with a hard-working mom, doting grandparents, and absolutely no idea who her father was.

Resisting the urge to take a peek at the man beside her, Darcy reached for her phone and flipped it over to check the time. Dammit _again_. There were 3 missed calls, all from her mom. Worse, she was going to miss her flight home if she didn’t get a move on _now_.

The room was thankfully gloomy as she slid out of bed and collected her things from around the room, so much so that she couldn’t make much out about the guy on the bed. It didn’t help that he slept facedown in his pillow. If it weren’t for the loud, steady breaths just _this_ side of snoring, she would’ve been scared he’d suffocated in his sleep. Nonetheless, she could tell he would dwarf her petite frame, and from the way light from a crack in the curtains gleamed off the dark skin of his head, he was also bald. Huh. She always liked bald guys- Darcy shook herself awake, grateful her bag had been mostly packed before her last big night out. Pulling her sweater over her head, she slipped out the door. She felt a little bad leaving without so much as a by-your-leave, but she really had to catch that plane. The one-day deal was all she could afford- if she missed this flight, she’d have to take a bus and she had no desire to be stuck on the wrong side of the country when exams started tomorrow.

Juggling purse, phone, coat, and duffel bag in a madcap race to the airport, it wasn’t until she was stashing her bag in the overhead locker that she noticed the ring. _Oh no_.

* * *

Nick Fury rarely drank. It would not do for his agents to discover his surprisingly low tolerance for alcohol. Last night though... He remembered the casino meeting going south, remembered ordering all SHIELD agents to go dark for the night and make their way back to HQ separately, remembered ducking into a small club and buying a drink for a pretty brunette. Beyond that, a black hole. They had presumably gone back to her hotel: the perfect untraceable accommodation, just as training advised. From the bottles surrounding the bed, it appeared they had raided the minibar. The girl had already left, perhaps already regretting whatever had happened last night. He would get her name from reception; maybe send her a gift basket.

It would depend if she had left him to pay the tab.

Fury got dressed, methodically listing the heads that would roll from last night’s debacle, steadfastly ignoring the nagging feeling that he was missing something.

* * *

Darcy stared at the ring on her finger. It was slim, gold, and obviously masculine. Inside it was etched _Class of ’85_. Whoa. An older guy then.

She sat there staring at her finger through the safety briefing, sifting through the fog that was masquerading as her memory. His name was Nick, she remembered, and he did work for the government. By the time they were at cruising altitude, she’d remembered his voice. Try as she might, everything else, face included, remained a blank. By the time they plane began to descend, she had decided to forget the whole thing. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right? She slipped the band off her finger and slipped it into her pocket.

* * *

 Mikayla Smith, SHIELD agent in charge of cover identities, looked down at the items on her desk and sighed. Director Fury was always so _hard_ on his covers. The passport had been soaked with _something_ and was now glued shut, the driver’s license was somehow _melted_ , the tinted glasses were cracked, and she was pretty sure that there had been a class ring that he’d managed to lose. She didn’t bother checking federal records; he’d probably managed to get _arrested_. No matter. She marked the cover as _unavailable_ in SHIELD records and sent the evidence to Disposal for incineration.

* * *

No sooner had Darcy turned her phone on than her mother called. Again. Feeling vaguely guilty, she picked up.

“Darcy! Thank goodness, I was so worried! Where have you been?”

“Uh... studying, mom” she lied. No need to admit she had blown next month’s rent on a fruitless quest to find her father. “Exams start tomorrow and I didn’t want to be disturbed.”

Her mom laughed, accepting the explanation at face value. “Always so easily distracted! Sorry for the panic. But darling, we need to talk.”

Darcy’s gut clenched. “The fund?”

Amelia sighed. “It’s pretty much empty. It can pay for your tuition, or your living expenses, but not both. Honey, I’m sorry. Maybe it’d be better if you just came home...”

“Mom! I have one semester left, all I need is some last science credits. Are you sure the payment’s not just late?”

“It’s been years. I’ve tried calling, writing, but obviously your father feels that your college education is simply beneath his notice.”

“Maybe if you told me who he was-“

“No. Darcy, we’ve had this conversation. Your college fund was all the involvement he’s had, all the involvement he wanted. Perhaps you could get a job?”

Darcy was about to tell her mother just how hard part-time jobs were to find, how little they paid, but she had the feeling Amelia already knew. Suddenly inspiration struck. “Mom, that’s brilliant! I’ll have to apply now though, internships with credits attached go pretty quickly...” Still muttering to herself, she ended the call and booted up her laptop.

Three weeks later, she was on a bus to New Mexico. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first published fic! Read and review. Yes, it's not much, but it's been floating around in my head, and I no longer have the looming shadow of exams.


	2. Asking for the Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter pre-Thor. I don't really know where I'm going with this tbh

Darcy didn‘t expect to like Jane as much as she did. This was a good thing, because she hadn’t expected the internship to include so much scientist-herding. Jane by herself was manageable, but when Erik arrived, Darcy had her work cut out for her. It’s not that she didn’t like Erik, because she did, but chasing two scientists around, nagging them to eat and sleep, was enough to give anyone a stomach bug. At least, that’s what Darcy told herself. Any alternative reason for her daily trips to the porcelain throne was discarded firmly.

This lasted all of a week, until Jane very firmly roused herself out of Science! to drag Darcy to a convenience store. That evening, Darcy spilled her Vegas one night stand to Jane’s sympathetic ears. She even showed her the ring, admitted she didn’t know his (and technically her) last name. The next morning, she called her mom and confessed the whole story to her. Amelia was sympathetic, admitting that she really had no place to judge, given the circumstances of Darcy herself.

The vomiting tailed off after that, which was good, because two days later, a thunder god fell from the sky and the whole world went to hell.


	3. Being Polite

A few months later, Jane is offered funding to continue her work at SHIELD. Darcy is all set to follow her there until SHIELD makes it clear her burgeoning belly is not lab-appropriate and sends her back to Pennsylvania, completed degree in hand. At least she got her iPod back. She doesn’t think about Nick. Much. Really.

Despite Darcy’s inability to name the father, Nicola Amelia Lewis soon has her grandma and great grandparents wrapped tightly around her obviously biracial tiny fist. After all, as Amelia points out, it’s becoming a Lewis woman tradition. Darcy eyeballs Nicola and sternly reminds her to use protection. Nicola giggles and blows a spit bubble in response.

When the sky opens above New York, Darcy is relieved to discover Jane is doing research in Tromsø. This reopens communication between the two, which had rather dropped off after Nicola was born. Through Skype calls, Darcy gets furious on Jane’s behalf that Thor would come to Earth and not visit her. When Jane asks Darcy to join her in London, the Lewis clan insists she go. Nicola is walking and talking, and Darcy has been feeling rather useless lately.

Working with Jane and Erik again, it’s like Darcy never left; only now, Jane has enough funding to actually pay her. Darcy Skypes home regularly, and is even able to get her own intern to help manage the terrible twosome. Of course, Jane’s work inevitably turns weird and suddenly Thor’s back and evil elves are invading and it turns out her intern is a pretty good kisser. _Not as good as Nick_ her traitorous mind tells her, but Nick is surely long gone, and for all she can remember of that night, his face and last name (if she ever knew it) still don’t make the list.

This time, when Jane returns to New York (and SHIELD), Darcy goes with her.


	4. For Dating an Intern

“What do you mean, you’re not coming?”

Ian chuckles sheepishly. “Well, I have to finish my dissertation, and I’d like a job that actually pays me...” He tails off, wilting slightly under the glare Darcy gives him.

“And this has nothing to do with the fact I have a daughter?”

He shrugs. “I wasn’t really expecting my girlfriend to have a kid, really. Shouldn’t you be, you know, back there, caring for her?” He flicks a hand in the general direction of America to illustrate his point.

Darcy scowls. “She already has doting grandparents with far more experience at parenting than me. Also, the money Stark is offering is money we need. Not all of us have family rich enough to send us to college.”

Ian winces, but doesn’t argue. She can tell he’s made up her mind. Fine. So has she.


	5. When You Make Delicacies

Darcy loves living in Stark Tower. Sure, the NDAs are a mile high, but free rent, and she’s able to make trips home at least twice a month. Still, it’s weeks before she meets the man himself. When she does, it’s to find him staring at a whiteboard at 2am, surrounded by half-empty mugs of coffee. She wavers, unsure what to do, then decides that as he in a lab, he is a Scientist and will be treated as one.

“Stark! Bed, now.”

He turns, blinks at her blearily. “I’d love to sweetheart, but I’m in a committed relationship with a very possessive beautiful woman who-“

“Who asked me to keep you moderately fed and rested while she was away on business?”  Part of Darcy can’t believe that Pepper Potts had asked for her specifically. She hasn’t actually met her yet, but Ms Potts seems ferociously organised, enough to know exactly who it was that ensured Jane didn’t disappear down the rabbit hole of Science! for too long. “Besides,” Darcy adds, hoisting Stark to his feet. “You’re old enough to be my father.”

* * *

Soon, Darcy has taken over the care of not only Tony (“Mr Stark was my father” “I just called you Stark” “Still too close”), but Bruce as well. In fact, her baking attracts a veritable horde of Avengers. 

Thor she already knows, and bribes him with baking to haul Jane from her lab.

Captain America (“please, call me Steve”) is stationed in DC, so he is by less often, but he eats a gratifyingly large amount. She learns his favorites and makes sure that there is always lemon poppyseed cake when he comes to visit. 

The others take a little longer.

It starts with a missing muffin. She _knows_ there were twelve, that’s how big her tray is. Next, it’s two missing cookies. Then, one of her raspberry puffs. This time, she follows the crumbs of pastry to beneath an air vent.

She angles her head back, stares into the darkness. “You know, you could’ve just asked.”

When no one replies, she gives a small _hmph_ and moves back to the counter. “I hadn’t even drizzled the white chocolate. You have an unfinished product there!” The idea of her cooking being eaten in an incomplete state annoys her.

“Sorry.”

Darcy whips her head up. A sheepish Hawkeye offers the puff back to her hopefully. She narrows her eyes at him, but relents and takes the pastry, placing it back on the rack to cool.

“What, you’re not going to put white chocolate on it?” He sounds vaguely betrayed.

“It needs to cool. I’m surprised you didn’t burn your hands.”

“Nah, I have iron fingers.” He holds them out for her inspection, calloused and rough.

“Great, so you can get the next batch out of the oven.”

“Work, work, work” he sighs mournfully, but complies anyway.

It’s not too long before he can be found in the kitchen whenever she bakes, and they are often joined by a silent redhead. Darcy finds her intimidating at first, but it’s hard to be scared of someone who cannot eat a cream puff without getting chocolate on her nose.


	6. For Asking Questions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's take a long detour through tropeville! Don't worry, I've got a few chapters typed up already. Fury will appear soon-ish. Just gotta get this plotbunny out first.

Darcy is taking a batch of  gingerbread muffins out of the oven when Stark (“Tony”) appears in the doorway, sniffing appreciatively. She slaps one of his hands when he reaches for a muffin. “They’re not ready yet!”

He draws back, faux-offended. “This is my tower!”

She straightens, looks down her nose and matches his  tone .“And these are my muffins.”

“Are you sure you two are not related?” Clint offers from the couch where he lounges, a beer in one hand.  “You’ve got the right height for it.”  He is treated to identical unimpressed stares from the  kitchen, which go blank with contemplation a moment later.

“I don’t know who my dad is,” Darcy admits softly.

Clint is about to  apologize when  Tony’s jaw drops. “Lewis ? Like... Amelia Lewis?”

Now her jaw is on the  floor, and Clint’s too, but before either can speak, Tony continues. “You’re  DeeDee? But you’re like, 10!”

Darcy rolls her eyes. She’s outgrown that nickname long ago. “I’m 26!”

Clint looks between the two. “Wait, you really are related?”

Darcy  drops  onto a nearby barstool. “Maybe...?”

Tony stiffens. “Foster said that you had a kid!”

Wordlessly, she pulls out her phone and passes it to Tony . Nicola is her lock screen, grinning toothlessly at the camera. He refuses to take it, backing away from her.  “Nuh -uh. I am not a grandfather. "

If she rolled her eyes any harder, they'd probably fall out of her head. "Relax. We don't even know if you're a father."

"Well. I am. Or I was. My lawyers dealt with it. I wasn't really sober at the time." He turns, calling JARVIS for the elevator, before Darcy can process being an "it". Numbly, she  maneuvers the muffins out of their tin and starts spooning more mixture in. She doesn't even notice when Clint steals one.

Tony bursts back in, waving a cotton swab at her. "I need DNA. I'll get Bruce to do a  paternity test."

"Isn't  he a  physicist?"  Clint asks around a mouthful of muffin.

Tony flaps a hand at him. "Whatever. He's brilliant. I'm brilliant. We'll work it out." He stops, focuses on Darcy. She knows what's coming . "Speaking of paternity, who-" 

Darcy shrugs. She  _ really _ doesn't want to be having this conversation. "It was a Vegas one-night stand. Hardly the first in the family"

His spluttering is cut  off by the Avengers Assemble Alarm, which Darcy fondly calls the "A3" on days of less unexpected  revelations. Tony and Clint head for the elevator, but Tony turns and levels a finger at her as the elevator opens. "This isn't over, Lewis." The last thing she sees before the doors close is Clint laughing, spraying crumbs everywhere.    


In the sudden quiet,  Darcy takes a breath, sets a timer for the muffins, and does what she always does in times of stress. She calls her mom.

* * *

Hearing her mom's voice is almost enough to send Darcy  over the edge into tears. "Hey mama," her voice wobbles.

Her mother's voice sharpens. "DeeDee? What's wrong?" 

Hearing her old nickname for the second time that day, Darcy shakes her head. "Mama, you know how I said I was working with Jane again? I mean, that was true, but Jane's being funded by Stark Industries..." She pauses, and hears it. That little intake of breath that signals her inner  DeeDee her mom's  disappointment or annoyance.

"Are you at the Tower?" demands her mom.

"Yeah, but-"

"We're coming. Stay there."

Well, _c_ _rap_.


	7. At a Family Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone! I’m glad to hear people are enjoying reading as much as I’m enjoying writing it. Know that every comment is treasured xx

A few hours later, Amelia Lewis arrives at the Tower, toddler in her arms and mother in tow. Pa Lewis, as she tells Darcy, is minding the farm. Darcy has no idea how she has found parking in midtown Manhattan, but Amelia has always been remarkable that way.

Darcy comes down to the lobby to meet them, introduces them to JARVIS, and takes them to the common area where she offers them some muffins. The gingerbread ones have been joined by blueberry, strawberry and cream, lemon, salted caramel, and chili chocolate. Apparently stress-baking is a Lewis thing.

Amelia refuses the muffins and sinks onto the sofa. Nicola immediately climbs from her grandma into her mother's lap. Martha Lewis sits on Darcy's other side, puts a comforting arm around her.

Darcy is the first to break the silence. "Is he really my dad?"

That sigh again. "Yes," Amelia admits. "I didn't want you to find out like this."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" They've had versions of this conversation before, many times, but never quite like this.

Amelia spreads her hands in a gesture of helplessness. "It never seemed like the right time. When you were growing up, he was in the tabloids for all the wrong reasons. Suddenly, he's Iron Man, saving the world. I didn't want any of that for you!"

Stung, Darcy draws back. "What, the saving the world? Didn't I tell you about the killer robot in New Mexico? The evil elves in London?"

"Yes, but you weren't directly involved in all of that-" Darcy opens her mouth to argue, but a flat stare from her mom has her closing it. "Just... Maybe I should've told you before. Well, now you know." She stands up, looks around. "Is there anything to eat around here?" Darcy mirrors her movements, her arms automatically going around the suddenly squirmy toddler in her lap.

"Sure. Let me show you around my kitchen. They like to think it’s shared, but no one else actually cooks here, and the one in my apartment is tiny..."

* * *

As usual, Clint is the first back into the common room. He is accompanied by Steve, and both are treated to the sight of four generations of Lewis women making industrial amounts of pizza. Martha is kneading dough, Amelia is getting some out of the oven, Darcy is sprinkling toppings, and Nicola is helping. Really. Clint narrowly dodges some flying pepperoni; Steve warily approaches the flour-covered culprit, who burbles excitedly at him at lifts her hands at the nice stranger. "Up!"

"Go ahead," Darcy calls, looking up with a grin.

Nicola's smile falters when Steve comes no closer, her bottom lip beginning to wobble. Quickly, Clint scoops her up, and imminent tears are replaced by shrieks of joy as she is gently tossed up and down.

"You've obviously done this before," Martha notes approvingly. She doesn't know whose these men are, but if her granddaughter trusts them, then her great-granddaughter is in safe hands.

Clint nods, never taking his eyes of the squealing toddler. "Yes ma'am. My sister has three of them."

The elevator _whooshes_ open again and Tony and Bruce enter. "What is that noise? Lewis, what have you-" He stops, startled, at the room in front of him

Amelia carefully closes the oven door on another pizza, marches over to Tony, and slaps him across the face. _Hard._   "How _dare_ you endanger my daughter's education?"

Tony blinks. "I-, uh, _what_?"

"The college fund. I asked for one thing, Tony, _one_ thing. She almost didn't get her degree because your billions couldn't take the strain."

Tony looks around him, takes refuge behind Pepper, who entered with Natasha while Amelia was yelling at him. "You'll have to talk to the lawyer..."

"I tried. When the payments stopped, I tried. But guess what, Tony? Mr Saunders died _fifteen_ years ago, and his replacement wouldn't take my calls! Your security had me thrown out of your building. Do you have any idea how humiliating that was?"

In the end, Tony's salvation comes, as it often does, from Pepper. "Mrs Lewis? Sorry, Ms Lewis. I'm sure your grievance is valid. Against Tony, they usually are. No, hush, Tony. Please, Ms Lewis, sit down."

Clint takes over oven duty as Amelia recounts her story- working in Vegas, the one-night stand, the lawyer and paternity tests, the NDA, the college fund, and the cessation of payments some years prior. When she is done, Pepper looks slightly sheepish.

"I'm afraid that was my fault. Well, not the baby. The payments. When I took over, I halted all outgoing payments until the accountants could check them over. I was worried some unscrupulous people had been taking advantage of Tony. In all the chaos after Afghanistan, I never thought to double-check."

As Clint cackles and Darcy is trying to process how her sort-of boss and some-time role-model was inadvertently responsible for the life she now leads, JARVIS chimes in. "Pardon me for interrupting, but Director Fury is here. Shall I send him up?”


	8. For Opening Your Mouth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all are the cutest. Seriously. Like, Nicola levels of cute, and in my mind she is gosh-darn adorable.

"Pardon me for interrupting, but Director Fury is here. Shall I send him up?”

Tony hastily ushers the Lewis women into the elevator and sends them to the floor she shares with Jane and Thor. They spend the entirety of Fury’s visit drinking tea and complaining about how they didn’t get any pizza. Darcy later meets Fury in a more private setting. One without so many witnesses.

* * *

 Well, that’s how they would’ve liked it.

* * *

What really happens is that Tony tries to usher the Lewis women into the elevator but Lewises never leave a job unfinished so Martha starts packing up the unused ingredients and the pizzas are burning but Clint is still doubled over laughing at the idea of Tony being taken advantage of so Amelia has to step around him to take the pizzas out of the oven and Darcy has been raised well enough to grab a damp cloth and wipe it over all surfaces that shouldn’t be covered with flour, like the counter and her daughter, somehow snoozing peacefully in the arms of a befuddled Bruce where Clint left her but Amelia needs counter space to put the pizza trays down so a guilty Pepper and the ever-helpful Steve steps forward to help just as Martha turns around with a bag of flour and they crash into each other and the bag bursts sending flour everywhere and that’s when Nick Fury steps out of the elevator and into chaos.

“What the hell is going on?”

Darcy isn’t paying much attention to the hot black guy until he opens his mouth. “ _Nick_!?” She claps her hands over her big mouth as everyone goes silent, even Clint. Everyone is shocked, bewildered, Tony even looks impressed, but as she watches, her mom’s confusion hardens into comprehension and Amelia Lewis strides forward, pizza tray in one hand and one accusing finger pointed at the man by the elevator.

“You. Where were you November three years ago?”

* * *

A small part of Nick Fury knows that he is larger, stronger, and generally more intimidating than the woman in front of him. For goodness sake, she’s holding _pizza_! This does not make him any less nervous. He keeps his voice even, playing for time, racking his brains to figure out _what the hell is going on?_

“My work keeps me moving. You’ll have to be more specific than that.”

At his reply, the woman before him looks at a vaguely familiar pretty brunette, who clarifies “November 27, 2010”.

It’s Barton who replies for him, around a mouthful of pizza. “Wasn’t that the meeting with that ass Marsden? Someone sold us out. We had to disappear in Vegas to make sure Calderon didn’t get a bullet in his head.”

The brunette goes white, then red. _Darcy,_ he remembers. Darcy Lewis, Foster’s intern. He’d taken a cursory look, but as she worked for Stark and not SHIELD, he’d left the background check to a subordinate. _That may have been a mistake,_ he reflects, as Lewis explodes.

“I was your _cover_? I was your stupid freaking untraceable accommodation providing _cover_?” Her voice rises to a near shriek.

He needs to regain control of this situation, needs to ignore the little voice that is telling him control was never his to have. “Miss Lewis, if you-“

“Actually,” she tells him coldly, pulling something from her pocket. “It’s Mrs. Mrs Fury, I guess.” She throws the something at him; he catches it reflexively to find it is a ring. As he desperately scrabbles for words, she plucks a child from Dr. Banner’s arms and pushes past him to the elevator. “J, get me out of here.”

Suddenly, debriefing the Avengers seems a lot less important. He is quite sure they intend to debrief _him_ , instead. Before the interrogation starts, he makes his escape, and as the elevator doors close on him and his wife (!), he hears Stark begin to yell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been able to get daily updates in for the last few days due to having some written in advance and PC access, but I'm going away for another wedding this weekend, so you may have to wait until next week for more (or not; we'll see how it goes)  
> Lemme know what you think of this chapter because it was SO MUCH FUN to write.


	9. For Paying Attention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One line borrowed from Doctor Who. I've been wanting to use it for ages!

Best. Day. Ever.

When Stark offered free accommodation to all the Avengers, Clint had been hesitant. He didn’t think living with all those scientists would be much fun. Boy, had he been wrong.

He wasn’t surprised to find Stark had a kid, given his pre-Pepper playboy lifestyle, but a grandkid? Clint thanked whichever deity was watching over him that he had been present for that revelation. He hoped JARVIS had recorded it.

And to find out Fury might be the father? Even better. Not only that, but there’s pizza! Just how he likes it: fresh out of the oven and in large quantities. He’s offering Tasha a slice when Darcy says something that makes his mouth drop. Surely he didn’t hear that correctly, did he?

He looks up at Tasha. She doesn’t look surprised, but then, she never does. A small smile plays around her lips as she takes the pizza without looking at him. In fact, her eyes are fixed on a shell-shocked Tony Stark. “Penny in the air…” she murmurs.

Stark’s mouth snaps shut as the elevator doors do. “They’re _married_?” he yelps.

“…and the penny drops” Tasha finishes quietly. Stark might have ditched the suit already, but it takes both Cap and Pepper to hold him back from attacking the elevator containing his daughter, grandkid, and son-in-law.

Yep. Best day ever.


	10. When You Actually Talk

Nicola was woken by the commotion. Rubbing a fist over bleary eyes, she snuggles closer to Mommy, would probably have fallen asleep again, but she sees someone else over Mommy’s shoulder.

“Mommy, who’s that?”

The man stiffens. “Is that—“ he cuts himself off.

Mommy sighs, but doesn’t answer either of them. Nicola is confused. Why is Mommy upset?

* * *

Darcy doesn’t speak to Nick, but for such a large elevator, it’s surprisingly difficult to avoid looking at him without turning her back, which she does. Unfortunately, this puts him directly in Nicola’s line of sight. Ugh. How do you introduce your daughter to her lying sneaking absent superhot father?

* * *

Nick thought that the elevator would be better than facing the Avengers, but Lewis (he refuses to think of her as his wife) turns her back on him as he steps in. Only a high, innocent question reminds him that there are three people in the elevator. This child she is holding looks about two, and she has his eyes. He can’t finish the thought that forces itself out, because surely, surely, it can’t be?

* * *

The elevator deposits them on Clint’s floor. She hopes it’s the last place they’ll look. Also, the fact that Jane and Thor were both absent from the fustercluck upstairs indicates that their shared floor might be occupied. That, or the lab. And yes, Darcy is quite aware that she’s stalling. She clutches her daughter a little tighter, and turns.

“So, you were undercover?”

He nods, his eyes fixed on Nicola, who is studying him with the same intensity.

Darcy answers the unfinished question from the elevator. “And yeah, she is. Yours, that is”

“We didn’t use protection?”

Darcy’s cheeks flame. “I think we ran out... You don’t remember?”

He finally looks at her. “I don’t remember any of it. I’m, uh, not great with alcohol.”

She’s outraged. “You were on an assignment, and you got drunk? Even I know that’s a bad idea, and dude, we have raging benders in the labs when Thor goes away.” She stops, suddenly conscious of the little one in her arms, now regarding her with curious eyes. “Pretend you didn’t hear that, sweetheart."

Nick smirks. “I assume I just got carried away”

“Yeah, we did at that.”

“I guessed that when you dropped this little bombshell.” He offers her the ring she threw at him.

She winces. That was not her finest moment. Clint’s going to die laughing, if he didn’t choke on stolen pizza first. “I kinda lost my head a bit there.”

His lips quirk in acknowledgement, but he keeps talking. “Once thing I don’t understand then. That morning, you just left. Why didn’t you leave a note? A phone number?”

She takes a breath. “I had a plane to catch. I thought it’d just be one of those one-night stands, you know? I didn’t notice the ring until later. And when this little one came along, I tried looking you up, but the federal government gets twitchy about handing out marriage details when you don’t even know your husband’s last name!”

He smiles. “So. Mistakes on both sides, then?”

She feels her lips twitch up. _Mistakes_ seems like too tame a word, but now he’s here, talking to her, she’s starting to remember why she let a stranger buy her a drink in that no-name club in Vegas.

Of course, that’s when JARVIS lets her know that her family is conducting a floor-to-floor search for them, and this one is next on their list. They turn to face the elevator, a united front.

 “Oh, by the way, we think Tony’s my dad.”

“ _What!?_ ”

The elevator doors _whoosh_ open.


	11. For Yelling

Tony is first out of the elevator. He spots them immediately, but is pushed aside by the two Lewis women behind him. In the face of Amelia’s righteous anger bearing down on him, Darcy steps in front of Nick. “Mom, wait.”

Amelia ignores her, but is forestalled by Martha swooping down and scooping Nicola from Darcy’s arms. “This conversation can wait until we’ve got this one out of here. Let’s go eat some pizza, shall we?” The room is silent, tense, as she retreats back the elevator, but the moment the doors shut…

“How dare you-“

“I can’t believe-“

“No, but mom-“

“I wasn’t expecting-“

“Three years-“

“I can assure you-“

“I didn’t even-“

“This is your fault-“

“POLITICAL SCIENCE!?”

The room falls quiet and all eyes turn to Tony. “My daughter studied political science? That’s not even a science!”

Darcy can’t believe her ears. “Really, dude? I got knocked up after a Vegas wedding to your boss-“

“He’s not my boss-“ “I’m not his boss-“

Twin denials, followed by the men locking eyes. A beat of silence. Tony starts yelling. Nick wisely stays quiet.

Clint passes Darcy a bowl of popcorn. She has no idea how he got down here, but come on. This is Clint. And she’s hungry. “To be honest,” she confides in an aside to him, “it’s not that I was _bad_ at science, but it didn’t really interest me all that much.” He chuckles, and then offers the bowl to Amelia, who is watching Nick contemplatively.

“-and if you ever hurt her, I will destroy SHIELD from the servers out!” Tony finishes, breathing heavily. In the pause, Amelia steps up.

“I don’t know who you are, really. I don’t know what SHIELD is, and I certainly don’t have Tony’s resources to destroy it. But let me make something very clear. If you ever cause harm to my daughter, no-one will ever find your body. Now come upstairs and have some pizza, and let me get to know my son-in-law.”

Blinking in surprise at the _non sequitur_ , Nick lets Amelia steer him to the elevator as Tony starts yelling again. As they pass him, Clint shoves a handful of popcorn in his mouth to shut him up.


	12. For Shutting Up

Upstairs, Martha and Pepper have vanished the mess and appear to be getting along swimmingly. Nicola has claimed Bruce as her favorite and is gallantly trying to feed him a muffin. Thor and Jane have appeared from wherever they were, and the need for industrial amounts of pizza is apparent as Thor and Steve are inhaling astonishing amounts. Jane is stuck to Thor’s side, but her eyes find Darcy and silently plead for an explanation. _Later,_ Darcy mouths.

Darcy realizes she is starving; she falls upon the pizza Martha hands her with the single-minded intensity she normally reserves for coffee. Behind her, she is aware of Pepper taking Tony aside, but ignores them in favor of heading for her favorite puffy couch.

Nicks takes a seat beside her; without thinking about it, she curls into his side. He tenses, makes as if to get up, but she pokes his side with an imperious fingertip. “Stay still. Please? It’s just been a really long day…” He doesn’t reply, but he doesn’t move away, either, and after a few moments, he relaxes.

“This is not how I expected this day to go,” he confides in a low voice.

“Nope,” she replies, popping the ‘p’. “Me neither.”

“I should really be getting back to SHIELD,” he murmurs, but doesn’t move. Darcy doesn’t dignify the sentiment with an answer.

* * *

Nicola demonstrates her mastery of the famous Lewis charm when she convinces Tony to put a Disney movie on. Darcy insists they watch Frozen when discovers Nick hasn’t seen it yet. She can’t wait to see his outrage but falls asleep as Anna and Kristoff are making their way up the mountain.

Nick _is_ outraged, though, and cheers as Anna plants the sweetest of punches. Silently, though, so as to not wake the woman sleeping at his side. He realizes he’s put his arm around her at some point and can’t bring himself to remove it. He resolves to ask her out for coffee at the soonest opportunity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up: the long awaited Mama Fury receives a visit from her son and _who!?_


	13. For Avoiding Your Mama

Darcy has faced a killer alien robot, fought evil elves, admitted to her family that she was pregnant, but as skyscrapers turn to suburbia, never has her stomach twisted into a bigger bundle of nerves. The only consolation is that she's pretty sure that the man next to her is even more nervous than she.

Nick's driving, of course. He says it's because he doesn't trust anyone else behind the wheel, but she's pretty sure it's because he gets carsick. Not that she'd ever say that out loud: she does have some sense of self-preservation.

Nicola's asleep in her car seat in the back. She has an uncanny knack of falling asleep in any moving vehicle; she was out pretty much before they were out of the parking garage.

It's been two weeks since that day at the tower. They've been on a few dates. Things seen to be moving fast, but nothing can top the night they actually met, married, and conceived a child. Compared to that, they're moving at a snail's pace.

The car (she'd pointed out it was more like an armored tank and Nick got tetchy) pulls up by a row of houses, each painted a different candy color but otherwise identical. She unbuckles her seat belt but waits for Nick to come round and open her door; she's accused him off being old-fashioned but he insists it's for her own safety. Together, they wake Nicola up and get her out of the car, and he leads them up to the gate of a lemon yellow house.

At the gate, he does something fiddly with the lock and a humming she didn't even notice stops. The garden beyond is immaculate and cheerful, flowers blooming in neat, colorful rows.

He reaches the front door first, presses the doorbell. "Just a minute!" crackles a voice from the intercom speaker. If possible, it seems he gets even tenser as the locks disengage and the door swings open. "I'm in the kitchen!" goes the same voice as before, now floating down the hallway.

Darcy follows Nick down the hallway, Nicola in her arms. At the end of the hall, they step into an airy kitchen. At the stove stands a thin black woman with salt and pepper hair. She turns a stern look on Nick. "And where have you been, hmmm? You missed Christmas dinner!"

Nick looks sheepish. "Mama, there was a-"

She cuts him off. "Never mind, you always have a good excuse. If it's not something you can't talk about, it's classified, or secret for the greater good. Now, who's this? You've never brought a girl home before." She turns a welcoming smile on Darcy, who provides a shaky one in return.

"I'm Darcy, ma'am."

"Oh, no need to be so formal, child! Call me Elizabeth. And who is this little one?"

"This is Nicola..."

At the sound of her name, Nicola lifts her head from where it's been buried in Darcy's chest, regards the new woman frankly. Chocolate brown eyes meet those of the same hue. Elizabeth sucks in a breath. "Is that-"

Her eyes dart to Nick, who suddenly can't meet her gaze. "Nicholas Joseph Fury! You have a DAUGHTER and you never told me? You just turn up with NO WARNING at all with a CHILD and-" she pauses, looks at Darcy. "I'm very sorry for this Darcy, please excuse us." She shows Darcy to a sitting room, shooting Nick a hard glare when he tries to follow. Once Darcy and Nicola are settled with some cookies, Elizabeth returns to the kitchen. Despite the closed door between them, Darcy can still hear the raised voices; well, one raised voice and the low rumble of a very sorry one.

"Why am I only meeting them now?"

The low rumbling.

"You got this poor girl in trouble and DIDN'T EVEN KNOW? Her poor parents, I thought I raised you better than this. You are going to go into that room and do the right thing and-"

More rumbling.

 _"WHAT_!? You got married and never told me? When?"

A shorter rumble.

"Nicholas Joseph Fury, never in my life have I ever heard such despicable conduct. And from one of my own children! Why, if your father was still alive, this would send him to the grave in shame! Did you learn nothing from that incident with the Bavarian Fire Drill?"

Darcy could hear Nick trying to apologise, but Elizabeth was having none of it. It's half an hour later that Elizabeth returns to the sitting room, followed by a rather chastened Nick. She holds a pot of coffee and another plate of cookies, and graces Darcy with a smile.

"I'm so very sorry you had to hear that, dear." She turns to her son, the smile still in place but looking rather brittle. "Nicholas, the back window has started rattling again, perhaps you be better change the hinges while I get to know my daughter-in-law and granddaughter." Back to Darcy, and the smile looks more genuine. "I assume you're staying for dinner?"

They do, and Nick swears Darcy to silence on the drive home.


	14. When You Let Your Heart Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because this is totally how Winter Soldier goes...

Darcy doesn’t move out of the Tower. They keep separate addresses, officially, and she doesn’t change her name. It’s safer that way.

She does wear a ring though. Not the SHIELD-issued cover identity class ring, but Nick goes out and buys her another, a slim band of twisted white, rose, and yellow gold. She’s happy, really she is. She’d be happier if her husband wasn’t head of a secret government agency, if maybe they could go out in public as a couple sometimes, but you can’t have everything, can you?

Nicola is the darling of the Tower. While Thor gives the best piggy backs and Darcy has had to yell at Clint for setting her loose in the ventilation system, Bruce is still her favorite, and she can be found in his lab at all hours of the day, wide eyes watching his research. Tony's ecstatic that his granddaughter will be a scientist; Darcy's just relieved her daughter has picked the safest lab to haunt. Hulk aside, there are far fewer explosions in Bruce's lab than Jane's or Tony's. Nick still treats her as if she is made of spun glass but can spend hours just watching her and her momma play.

* * *

She’s recovering from one of Jane’s Science! benders when she gets the call from Nat. _Winter Soldier. Shot. Died on the table_. The words are a punch in the stomach. He can’t really be dead, can he? They just found each other again.

Her mom arrives at the Tower again, takes care of Nicola as Darcy wanders through the motions of life. She should be ok, dammit, but she’s only had him a short time and she’d just begun to think that maybe they could have a little longer.

Nicola is snoozing in her lap as she watches helicarriers fall from the sky. Tony’s tearing his hair out with worry but New York has their own branch of SHIELD to worry about and he and Clint have their hands full.

Nat visits between Senate hearings, tells her the truth, swears her to silence. She stops moping after that, returns to the labs, but both Tony and Jane can tell it’s not the same. It wouldn’t kill the guy to tell her himself, would it? Well, actually, it might, and that’s the only thing stopping her from vowing to finish him off the next time she sees him. Because she will see him again. She’s sure of it.

She stays long enough to train up the latest batch of interns and scientist wranglers (far too many of the previous ones were HYDRA. SHIELD. SHIELDRA. Whatever.), then takes Nicola and moves back out to Pennsylvania after a short visit to Elizabeth. She might see her infrequently, but her mother-in-law has become a good friend, contrary to popular culture.

* * *

It’s a hot, sunny day in June when a battered truck pulls up to her front door. She’s sure the neighbors are watching. Those Lewis women are just so good for the town rumor mill. It goes into full swing when that DeeDee slaps the stranger, then drags him inside. It goes into overdrive when, a few hours later, they throw some bags into the back and drive off with the youngest Lewis.

Nick and Darcy Joseph move into a small community north of Toronto just in time for Canada Day. True, Nick is pretty imposing, but Darcy makes the best pie and their daughter Nicola is adorable. The neighbours are sure they'll fit in just fine. They did leave in an awful hurry for a few weeks; some problem with Darcy's father? But that's a story for another day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done! I know there may be more that people want to see, but for now, I figured give them a rest. I may add some vignettes later: if there are any particular requests, I may be able to fit something in.
> 
> Thank you everyone for reading and commenting; I never would've actually finished this without you! xx


End file.
